Going on the bus

This picture shows the inside of the VERY smart bus we travelled to Siem Reap on this weekend. We travel a lot by bus. There are no trains here and the taxis only go when they are full .Full means with at least 8 people in a car. They are then driven at terrifying speed and with completely fearless overtaking.The buses are also driven very fast and with fearless overtaking but because there only appears to be one rule of the road in Cambodia and that is that the biggest vehicle has priority the bus somehow feels safer!You generally get your own seat on the bus. Sometimes the same seat is sold twice but if this happens it is always sorted out amicably. The bus is always very late as every time it stops the drivers and passengers get out to eat. They also bring lots of snacks back on in case they get hungry on the journey. Just as we get going we have to stop again so that the driver can pay informal cash payments to the traffic police for the privilege of leaving the town. As soon as that is dealt with we stop again to let on some more passengers who pay informal cash payments to the driver for the privilege of riding on the bus without a ticket!! After that we settle down to watch the TV. This is always played extremely loudly . The most popular shows are karaoke love songs,slapstick comedians or martial arts.The Cambodian people are not good travellers and many passengers become very travel sick very quickly The buses are not usually a smart as the one in the picture but I guess the company must be doing well and adding to their fleet. I hope so. The fares are really not expensive and the people we know who work for the company locally and sell us our tickets are some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.